Carrie Muskat attaches jumper cables to the Brownlie BandWGN

[Brian]

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/images/2006/03/12/5Jlzzx3A.jpg

 

MESA, Ariz. -- Bobby Brownlie may have been assigned to the Minor League camp on Saturday, but he's headed in the right direction career-wise.

 

Brownlie, 25, the Cubs' No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, had reported to the big-league camp in mid-February with the other pitchers. This was his first spring with the Major League players, and he took advantage of it.

 

"It's night and day from what I experienced the last three years in the Minor League camp," said Brownlie. "It's not that the Minor League camp is so bad, but it's nice to come up here and see the guys you always hear about, and you're able to talk to them and pick their brain and things like that. It's nice being in this atmosphere and playing in a Spring Training game in front of 12,000 fans. It prepares you for the season."

 

In three Cactus League games, Brownlie gave up one run on three hits over three innings. More important, he was able to talk to some of the veteran players, such as Glendon Rusch, whose locker was next to Brownlie's.

 

"It's not so much [talking] about baseball but everything, handling everything, how to balance things," said Brownlie.

 

The right-hander has moved up a level each season since starting his pro career in 2003 at Class A Daytona. Last year, at Triple-A Iowa, he went 6-7 with a 4.74 ERA in 27 games (14 starts). He worked at least six innings in eight of his starts, and went 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in 13 relief appearances.

 

When he was drafted out of Rutgers, he had some problems with his right shoulder, but the shoulder is now healthy and he's feeling strong.

 

"I went back to a personal trainer [Todd Sak] who I used my senior year of high school," he said. "He helped take me to the next step. He's a guy I used this offseason. I concentrated on strengthening my legs, and a lot of core and leg stuff. It was more body-weight stuff -- body-weight squats and body-weight lunges. I didn't use a lot of weight, but that worked on endurance stuff to get into the seventh, eighth innings to prepare for the season."

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060312&content_id=1346466&vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

[craig]

Thanks much for link.

 

A number of interesting tidbits:

*Brownlie claiming the shoulder is healthy and stronger. We'll see. And we'll see what that does for his pitching, if anything. (My shoulder is healthy too, but that doesn't mean I can throw 90 mph...) He may have a healthy shoulder but still carry only 87 mph fastball into the 6th innings. Sure would be cool if he got back into the 88-92 range, though. Also possible that with a healthier shoulder, perhaps his curve might sharpen up, also.

*Note about Jody Davis saying Yusuf Carter has the tools to stick at catcher. His chance of hitting enough to reach the majors are a ton better as a catcher than a corner outfielder, that's a given...

*Muskat's again speculation of Pawelek Peoria (to be expected), Holliman at Daytona (certainly understandable, although not necessarily obvious), and Veal at Daytona (not to be expected, although since she's posted this before it's less surprising than the first time she wrote that...)

*Details that minor league camp opened last Tuesday, and that Fleita claims everybody is looking fit and great. Fleita hypes everthing and everybody, so doubtful that is means a thing. But certainly there have been plenty of other springs where pitchers showed up and were *not* allowed to participate normally (Justin Jones, Petrick, Sisco, Ryu, Marshall last year, and many surgery rehabs who thought they might be ready in spring but then were not ready for much participation...)

*Fleita supposedly being excited about top 6 drafts (I'm sure that's also true every year...)... but then Muskat including Kyle Reynolds (not a board favorite) but not including 3rd round Billek. Very possibly just an error by Muskat (or perhaps Fleita). But Fleita may like Reynolds more than we realize.

[weather2]

Members of this board aren't the only ones giving a tepid endorsement to Reynolds: My half-serious comments are in parentheses.

 

From Vineline:

 

"A polished hitter out of Baylor University. (has he reached his ceiling already?) Reynolds mainly played first base in college (need to check who played 2B/SS for Baylor). The Cubs feel he can advance fast at second base (he'd better; he'll be 23 at seasons end). Reynolds displayed a clean left-handed swing (thats good) and held his own at Boise (SS A numbers are poor predictors anyway) last year. He plays at least average defense (tough to stick at middle infield if you're considered average in SS A) and has shown he can make the turn at second on double plays (sounds like they didn't know this when they drafted him)".

 

Of course he was only a 6th round draft choice ... so its hard to be too critical of the Cubs.

[Diffusion]

Reynolds mainly played first base in college (need to check who played 2B/SS for Baylor).

 

Judging by the defensive numbers (DPs, E, FPCT, PO, A etc...), Paul Witt played shortstop, Michael Griffin was at second base and Kevin Russo at third.

 

http://baylorbears.collegesports.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2004-2005/teamcume.html

 

Reynolds displayed a clean left-handed swing (thats good) and held his own at Boise (SS A numbers are poor predictors anyway) last year.

 

.255/.307/.392 with a 52/12 K/BB ratio in 215 PA really count as holding your own when you're in your age 21 season and at short-season A-ball? I think that's stretching things a bit.

[craig]

Reynolds started fast at Boise, but got worse towards the end. Low-walk, high-K guy, so however "clean" his swing may be, he may be one of these Kelton/Corey types who may swing nicely but don't actually hit the ball often enough.

 

He was injured last year in college. That may have contributed to him playing 1B rather than a more challenging defensive spot.

 

Whatever, he's obviously a long shot. Not too many 6th rounders who end up being very serious prospects, so assuming Reynolds is a dud, that will be no surprise.